• Macromolecular Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.101-106
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• 2006

The transport of reactant gas, electrons and protons at the three phase interfaces in the catalytic layers of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) in proton exchange, membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) must be optimized to provide efficient transport to and from the electrochemical reactions in the solid polymer electrolyte. The aim of reducing proton transport loss in the catalytic layer by increasing the volume of the conducting medium can be achieved by filling the voids in the layer with small-sized electrolytes, such as dendrimers. Generation 1.5 and 3.5 polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer electrolytes are well-controlled, nanometer-sized materials with many peripheral ionic exchange, -COOH groups and were used for this purpose in this study. The electrochemically active surface area of the deposited catalyst material was also investigated using cyclic voltammetry, and by analyzing the Pt-H oxidation peak. The performances of the fuel cells with added PAMAM dendrimers were found to be comparable to that of a fuel cell using MEA, although the Pt utilization was reduced by the adsorption of the dendrimers to the catalytic layer.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.789-798
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• 2018

The role of empirical equation to predict the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell is important. The activation, ohmic and mass transfer losses were separated in a polarization curve, and the curve fitting according to each region was performed using Kim's model and Hao's model. Changes of each loss were compared according to operation variables of the temperature, pressure, oxygen concentration and membrane thickness. The existing model showed a good fitting convergence, but less fitting accuracy in the separated loss region. A new model using the convergence coefficient was suggested to improve the accuracy of performance prediction of fuel cells of which results were demonstrated.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.141-144
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• 2019

Oil-water separators are commonly used in the oily wastewater treatment for the reuse of water resources. Recently, various approaches have been conducted to design and manipulate the oil-water separator installed with highly functionalized membranes. Membrane technologies should encompass the selectivity, durability, economics and processability of materials, and effective oil water separators be also developed to exhibit the optimal performance of the materials. In this mini-review, we highlight the large scale fabrication of membrane materials and the effective design of oil water separators.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.66-74
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• 2023

In this study, a new potentiometric sensor selective to copper(II) ions was developed and characterized. The developed sensor has a polymeric membrane and contains 4.0% electroactive material (ionophore), 33.0% poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), 63.0% bis(2-ethylhexyl)sebacate (BEHS) and 1.0% potassium tetrakis(p-chlorophenyl)borate (KTpClPB). This novel copper(II)-selective sensor exhibits a Nernstian response over a wide concentration range from 1.0×10^-6 to 1.0×10^-1 mol L^-1 with a slope of 29.6 (±1.2) mV decade^-1, and a lower detection limit of 8.75×10-7 mol L^-1. The sensor, which was produced economically by synthesizing the ionophore in the laboratory, has a good selectivity and repeatability, fast response time and stable potentiometric behaviour. The potential response of the sensor remains unaffected of pH in the range of 5.0-10.0. Based on the analytical applications of the sensor, we showed that it can be used as an indicator electrode in the quantification of Cu²⁺ ions by potentiometric titration against EDTA, and can also be successfully utilized for the determination of copper(II) ions in different real samples.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2018

In this study, we investigated the cellular protective effects and mechanisms of nicotiflorin and its aglycone kaempferol isolated from Annona muricata. The protective effect of these components against $^1O_2$-induced cell damage was also studied by using L-ascorbic acid and (+)-${\alpha}$-tocopherol as controls. Kaempferol exhibited the most potent protective effect, followed by (+)-${\alpha}$-tocopherol and nicotiflorin. L-Ascorbic acid did not exhibit any cellular protective effects. To elucidate the mechanism underlying protective effects, the quenching rate constant of the singlet oxygen, free radical-scavenging activity, ROS-scavenging activity, and uptake ratio of the erythrocyte membrane were measured. The results showed that the cell membrane penetration is a key factor determining the cellular protective effect of kaempferol and its glycoside nicotiflorin. The result from L-ascorbic acid demonstrated that the cellular protective effect of a compound depends on its ability to penetrate the cell membrane and is independent of its antioxidant capacity. In addition, it is suggested that cellular protective effects of kaempferol and (+)-${\alpha}$-tocopherol depend not only on the cell permeability, but also on free radical- and ROS-scavenging activities. These results indicate that the cell permeability and free radical- and ROS- scavenging activities of antioxidants are major factors affecting the protection of cell membranes against the oxidative damage induced by photosensitization reaction.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.258-263
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• 2013

New conducting polymers containing heterocyclic ring with carbazole, EDOT and benzobisthiazole were synthesized and characterized by organic spectroscopic methods. Potentiometric ion-selective membrane electrodes (ISMEs) have been extensively used for ion analysis in clinical, environmental, and industeial fields owing to its wide response range (4 to 7 orders of magnitude), no effect of sample turbidity, fast response time, and ease of miniaturization. Considerable attention has been given to alternative use of room temperature vulcanizing (RTV)-type silicone rubber(SR) owing to its strong adhesion and high thermal durability. Unfortunately, the high membrane resistance of SR-based (ISMs)(2 to 3 higher orders of magnitude compared to those of poly(vinyl chloride)(PVC)-based ones) has significantly restricted its application. Herein we demonstrate a new method to reduce membrane resistance via addition of new conducting polymer into the SR-based ISMs.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.243-251
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• 2018

Methane is one of the important greenhouse gases and methane is the major component of the biogas. A multiple stage membrane process was developed and analysed with the numerical analysis so that the mole fraction of methane in the final product could be kept higher than 0.95 and simultaneously the recovery of methane was also maintained higher than 99% from the biogas using 3 polysulfone hollow fiber membrane modules which were properly connected. As the feed pressure of the biogas, the mole fraction of methane in the biogas and the membrane area in the membrane module are increased, the methane mole fraction of the final product are found to be increased. However, a proper membrane area in the module should be carefully selected in order to achieve the satisfactory goal of 0.95 mole fraction of methane and 99% recovery of methane from the biogas. Even if the multiple membrane process is utilized with the properly selected membrane modules, the limited operating ranges have to be applied in the following parameters : the feed pressure, the flow rate, the mole fraction of methane in the biogas to get both the target methane concentration and the recovery rate of methane.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.368-373
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• 2014

Coencapsulation of hydrophilic L-ascorbic acid and hydrophobic ${\alpha}$-tocopherol in ethosome vesicles was attempted and their properties were investigated in this study. The size of vesicles decreased with increasing concentration of L-ascorbic acid solution encapsulated in ethosome. The vesicle size and encapsulation efficiency of ethosomes increased slightly when ${\alpha}$-tocopherol was added into the HPC-forming liquid crystalline membrane of ethosome. However, the vesicle size increased highly and the encapsulation efficiency decreased abruptly at mixing ratios above 25 wt% due to the formation of an imperfect liquid crystalline structure within a vesicle membrane. It was observed that antioxidant activity was maintained for 5 weeks at $40^{\circ}C$ when L-ascorbic acid and ${\alpha}$-tocopherol were coencapsulated in ethosome. The L-ascorbic acid in ethosome was stable compared to that in aqueous solution under UV radiation.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.30-32
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• 1996

Although the transport of small molecules through polymer membranes has been extensively studied for a long time, understanding of the transport mechanism is still far from satisfactory. This in turn makes difflcult the search for new membrane materials with the desired transport characteristics. Therefore it is of the utmost interest to study the correlations between a polymer's structure and morphology and its transport properties. Generally, polyurethanes serve as excellent polymer materials for such studies since their physical and chemical properties can be widely and systematically modified by varying the length, composition and chemical structure of the hard and soft segments. In this paper liquid crystalline polyurethanes are presented as new membrane materials for liquld separation and their transport properties with respect to molecular and supermolecular-structure are discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.12 no.E
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• pp.19-28
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• 1996

A pore concensation-based separation technique was studied experimentally using toluene and xylene in a nitrogen stream. The removal rate of toluene and xylene on a microporous ceramic membrane was enhanced by increasing the partial pressure difference across the membrane, but the selectivity was reduced with increasing flux of nitrogen. This was found both in vacuum and pressure modes of operation. The experimental results from this study suggest that the pores mear the inlet portion of the module were filled with the organic solvent while the pores near the exit section of the module were slightly opened as the solvent concentration was depleted along the module. In the case of xylene, the rate of N$_{2}$ permeation was reduced considerably relative to toluene, resulting in a much higher separation gactor. Condensibility of xylene appeared to be higher than that of toluene, the potential for pore condensation-based separation of xylene was also found to be higher than that for toluene.